It is said that one of Dr. James Van Allen's colleagues uttered this phrase upon the discovery of energized particle belts surrounding the Earth. The Van Allen Radiation Belts, as they are now known, were found by Geiger counters aboard America's first satellite, Explorer 1. Fifty-four years later, NASA hopes its Radiation Belt Storm Probes will shed new light on this dangerous region in our planet's backyard.

Not THAT dangerous if the Moon astronauts could go to the Moon without too much trouble, although the computers probably had to be radiation-hardened...